Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC Sells 5,384 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,466 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,384 shares during the quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,678,000 after buying an additional 93,121 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $56.68 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.04. The company has a market capitalization of $95.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.